Snow in August Read Online Free PDF

pounds rice in the shed and talks very little.
    Hongren:
    His words are few but every word is to the point. Do you remember what he told me? He said, “You can separate men into northerners and southerners, but you can’t divide Buddha nature into north and south. Barbarians are not monks, but what difference is there in their Buddha nature?”
    Shenxiu:
    Who does he think he is? This is really preposterous.
    Hongren:
    Someone that discerning can’t be all that bad. If that was really his idea, then he’s not doing too badly. Today I’m going to give a lecture on the Supreme Sutra. Inform all the monks and staff to drop whatever they’re doing when they hear the bell, and come immediately to the assembly hall. Invite the monks and laymen who are staying with us at the temple as well. I have something to tell everybody.
    Shenxiu:
    Yes, master. Should I also invite Lu the painter to come? We’ve commissioned him to paint two pictures: “The Transfiguration of the Assembly in the Lankavatara Sutra” and “The Buddha Passes on His Robe.”
    Hongren:
    This doesn’t concern him. Let him think in peace. Have the walls in the hallway been whitewashed?
    Shenxiu:
    Please be reassured. Everything has been kept neat and tidy, ready for the painter to do his job tomorrow.
    Hongren:
    In that case, leave me.
     
    [ Exit Shenxiu. Hongren listens to the sound of pounding rice. The bell tolls loudly and the pounding stops. Enter the monks one by one. Hongren ascends the hall. The tolling stops.
     
    Hongren:
    ( Goes up the pulpit .)
    All disciples and followers, let your hearts be at peace.
    ( All clasp their hands and lower their heads .)
    Hongren:
    I don’t have much to say to you. I’ve said all I wanted to say already in past lectures. At any rate, all that which can be spoken is not the real meaning of the Dharma. It is something you have to comprehend for yourself. Day and night you people are busy worshipping and paying homage to Buddha, trying only to cultivate the field of merits, but you never ask yourself the big question of life and death. If you can’t extract yourself from the bitter sea of life and death, what is it that you aspire to? If you have lost your self-nature, what is the use of the field of merits? Do you think you will be able to save yourself from suffering in this way?
    What are you staring at? There is no use staring at me. Go and stare at yourselves! Return to your rooms. If you possess wisdom, you should let yourself be enlightened of your own prajna, your innate wisdom.
    ( The crowd look at one another, not knowing what to do .)
    Hongren:
    Have you not come to my temple to seek Buddha? Now go and compose a gatha poem and show it to me. If any one of you can prove that he has understood the truth of Buddha in his gatha, then I will pass on the Dharma to him, and he will inherit the robe and the almsbowl, which have been handed down for five generations since the Bodhidharma, and become the Sixth Patriarch.
     
    [ Exit Hongren. Crowd scurry around in confusion, not knowing what to do .
    Shenxiu, bewildered, stands on one side, his head lowered .
     
    Crowd:
    Look, come and take a look!
    What the hell are you looking at? You’re stepping on my shoes!
    Instructor Shenxiu, he must have got it already.
    They didn’t make him the principal instructor for nothing. Don’t waste your time.
    Don’t worry, after Instructor Shenxiu receives the Dharma, we’ll just follow him and chant our sutra. We’ll be all right.
    ( Huiming, martial arts instructor, walks through the hall, strutting and swaggering .)
    Crowd:
    Instructor Huiming!
    Have you got it?
    ( Huiming ignores them. Exit .)
    Crowd:
    You think he’s got it already?
    Him? If you asked him to fight, he wouldn’t have a problem for sure. But writing? That’s a different story!( Exit Crowd .)
    Shenxiu:
    ( Paces back and forth, rubs his palms continuously, and talks to himself .)
    The Patriarch has a thousand disciples, but no one dares to write this